Monday 19th - arrived in Christchurch after short flight from Sydney. We spent a couple of days here exploring the city and planning the rest of our trip and organising our hire car for the wednesday onwards. Christchurch is really small and not much going on but its really pretty and has a real English feel to it with all the architecture etc.. We stayed at Base in Cathedral Square so it was a really central location right by the Cathedral (believe it or not) and the Avon River. Monday night we treated ourselves to dinner as we had made a pact to not eat out at all in NZ so this was our last supper! This turned out to be the best idea ever as we got a bargain - we chose to eat at Viaduct as they had an $19 Italian meal deal on (main course and a glass of house wine) We had to wait for a table so got a drink at the bar (which was never on our bill) We were then seated at the best table in the restaurant by the manager who then served us all night. We ordered our meals and wine - Charlotte got a more expensive wine than was included in the meal deal and then when they ran out of Spaghetti Bolognaise Becky managed to get a $35 dollar steak instead!! Result! The manager must have liked us or felt sorry for us as we then ended up getting nearly 3 bottles of wine and only paying for the one glass each!!! Was a good night all round!

Tuesday 20th - We got combined tickets for the Scenic Tram around the city and a Gondala to Mt Cavendish just out of town which had great views of Christchurch and the Canterbury Plains... The tram stopped at various points of interest but the only one that appealed to us was punting on the river with the Josh Harnett look-a-like!! Just chilled out in the sunshine and found the best supermarket ever in the afternoon - Pak'n'Save is so cheap!!

Wednesday 21st - Picked up hire car which we have named Bluebell and drove to Hamner Springs about 2 hours north west of Christchurch. This is a winter ski resort but still popular year round because of their Hot Thermal Mineral pools and Sulphur pools! Needless to say we spent the afternoon relaxing here and soaking in the pools which were as warm as 42degrees!!

Thursday 22nd - We left here the next morning and headed to Greymouth on the west coast via a scenic through the mountains. Not much going on here but made a good night stop over.

Friday 23rd - Left Greymouth early to drive to Franz Josef via Arthurs Pass, New Zealand's highest altitude town! Was very beautiful but had to try and imagine it covered in snow while drinking our hot chocolates! A lot places we've visited would be even more stunning in winter! Arrived in Franz Josef late afternoon and organised our Glacier hike for the next day at 8am. The hostel we stayed in here was fab - we had our own kitchen, bathroom and TV between a maximum 6 guests as well as a communal kitchen and TV room. A much better set up than most of the hostels in Australia. We're loving New Zealand TV too as its basically all English and BBC stuff!

Saturday 24th - The Glacier hike started at 8am where were kitted out in boots, over trousers, gloves and coats etc...It was a full on day that we are still recovering from! We were split into small groups with one guide who was there to make the paths as we went up the glacier. It took about an hour to climb up the terminal face (end of glacier) and then it kind of flattened out and was more like walking through giant crevices for another couple of hours. We stopped for lunch in a spot with views down over the glacier and valley beyond. Lunch wasnt that enjoyable though because as soon as we stopped moving it was absolutly freezing! We also saw ice caves and lots more ice...!

When we finally got back to our hostel at 5pm we jumped in the free hot tub which we thought might help us not get so stiff in the morning - no such luck!

Sunday 25th - We left Franz Josef early to drive to Wanaka via the Fox Glacier for some photos. The drive was more or less staight down the west coast and was very pretty! We arrived in Wanaka early afternoon and found a hostel. We randomly bumped into some guys who were on our Fraser Is trip back in Oz so had a beer with them by the lake. We had heard about a really cool cinema they have here so went and got some tickets to see Knocked Up that evening. It was really cool - loads of sofas and Morris Miner you can sit in! They also serve food alcohol during the break! Wanaka was really pretty situated at the end of Lake Wanaka and a popular ski resort in winter. Its a meant to be a bit like Queenstown was a few years ago when it was less developed.

Monday 26th - We headed to Queenstown and stayed at Southern Laughter hostel where Charlotte's friend Cameron from home works so he booked us a room. We went out for a few beers in the afternoon and Cameron showed us around the town.

Tuesday 27th - We spent the tuesday planning what activities we wanted to do whilst we were here and wandered around the town center which is really pretty and full fo loads of really nice bars, shops and restaurants all situated around Lake Wakitipu. That night we went to the Minus 5 bar (ice bar) You have to book to go and they give you big parker coats and gloves and you are only allowed to stay in there for half an hour. You get a vodka cocktail included in the price which they serve to you in a glass made of ice! Was really cool but was ready to hit the Boiler Room bar after our 30 min slot.

Wednesday 28th - Today we did our first activity the Shotover Jet. This is a 25min jet boat ride through the Shotover Canyons where they do 360 spins and drive very fast and close to the rocks - was really cool even if Charlotte did get wet sat on the outside!!

Thursday 29th - Today we did River Surfing which was Serious Fun! We have free t-shirts to prove it! We drove 40 mins out of town and then jumped in the freezinf river with our wetsuits and boady boards and took on the rapids. You get to do two trips down the river as the first time is a practice run and getting to know parts of the river. Was so much fun would definetly recommend it (maybe not on our rivers at home though!) At the end of the trip we got to jump off a 5 metre rock into the river which was cool! Went out that evening for a few drink with the guys from our dorm room.

Friday 30th - Today we went on a mega day trip to Milford Sound about 300km from Queenstown. We were picked up at 8.15am and went straight back to sleep on the bus. After a stop at Te Anua to buy some lunch we finally arrived at Milford at about 1.45pm to baord our 2 hour cruise up to the Tasman Sea! The scenery was absolutly stunning with waterfalls and giant cliffs. We were also lucky enough to see New Zealand Fur seals up really close and a Penguin with red bushy eyebrows! On the bus journey there and back we stopped at some scenic lookouts so got some good photos. We had dinner pre ordered for us in Te Anua and then finally got back to our hostel at about 10pm that night - where we went straight to bed.

Saturday 1st - D-day!!

"I must not fear, fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration I will face my fear I will permit it to pass over and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." Frank Herbert, Nzone Skydive

After reading this we just couldnt wait to jump out of a plane at 12,000ft and were filled with confidence! Our jump time was 8.30am so feeling extra confident (and after a particuarly goodnights sleep for Charlotte!!) we headed to the shop to check in. The drop zone is about 20 mins outr of town not too far from Queenstown airport. Thankfully we were the first group called through to suit up and be introduced to our tandem masters and camera men. 3 of us went up in one plane with our camera men and tandem masters. It took 10mins to get up to altitude (12,000ft for us and then on up to 15,000ft for the other guy in our plane!) We all boarded the plane and were ready to take off when we were called back because of a small plane crash at Queenstown airport and the boeings circling around - as you can imagine this did nothing for our nerves! 10 mins later we were allowed to take off so all boarded again and took off. The flight was very scenic with great view over the lake and mountians. When we reached 12,000ft the door automatically opened and Charlotte was first to jump. Our camera climbed out first and hung on to the edge of the plane to film our exit. It's really hard to explain how it feels to hang out of a plane and then free fall at 200kmph especially as its all a bit of a blur even as soon as we landed! We had 7000ft (45secs) and then after they pull the cord at 5000ft you have about 5 mins of a more relaxed and scenic decent!! It was such a good feeling to have done it and we felt so proud after and couldnt stop talking about it - the whole of Queenstown heard about our skydives that evening!!

In the afternoon we were booked on a 4 wineries wine tour - which was exactly what we needed! The areas is Gibbston Valley and is renowned for it Pinot Noirs but also does some great Pinot Gris!! This tour was really good as it was much more informative than the Hunter Valley one and we got to see the wine cellars etc...

After 5 hours wine tasting we were ready for a night on the town so headed out with our roomies - Matt, Harry and Monty!

Sunday 2nd - Today was a bit of a wipeout - we slept in and then enjoyed the sunshine. Weather here is gorgeous at the moment and nearly as hot as Oz!

Monday 3rd - We were meant to leave Queenstown today but have stayed another night so we can play Frisbee golf later this evening and then go the Ice Bar again! Tomorrow we really are leaving for Kaikora and some Whale spotting, as we only have two weeks to fit in the rest of NZ.

Lots of love to everyone. Hope all the christmas preparation is going well and we will update you again before we part on 17th Dec!!

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